Newspaper Page Text
Four arrested, large seizure of drugs
with Talking Rock raid by task force
Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad
Press Release
On December 14, Agent’s with the Cherokee
Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (CMANS), as
sisted by the Cherokee Multi-Agency SWAT
Team and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office,
executed a search warrant on Talonah St in Talk
ing Rock after investigating a complaint into the
distribution of Methamphetamine in the area. The
individual arrested are listed below along with
their corresponding charges:
• Tiffany Young, 39, Trafficking Methamphet
amine, Possession of a Firearm Commission of a
Felony, Possession with Intent to Distribute Mar
ijuana, Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, Pos
session of Schedule II.
• Toby Carver, 39, Trafficking Methampheta
mine, Possession of a Firearm, Commission of a
Felony, Possession with Intent to Distribute Mar
ijuana, and Theft by Receiving Stolen Property.
photo/CMANS
Some of the firearms, large quantity of drugs
and cash seized in the Talking Rock raid last
week.
• Tanya Thompson, 48, Possession of Metham
phetamine, Possession of Drag Related Objects,
and Possession of Dangerous Drag.
• Carl Kisselburg, 50, Possession of Metham
phetamine, Possession of Drag Related Objects,
and Possession of Dangerous Drag.
The search warrant yielded the seizure of over
700 grams of Methamphetamine, 10 firearms, 2
of which were reported stolen out of other juris
dictions, several ounces of Marijuana and U.S.
currency. This investigation is still ongoing and
further arrests are possible.
The Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad
is a joint task force working in Cherokee County
and Pickens County to investigate drag related vi
olations. Participating agencies include the Chero
kee Sheriff’s Office, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office,
the Canton Police Department, the Woodstock Po
lice Department, the Holly Springs Police Depart
ment, the Ball Ground Police Department, the
Cherokee County Mar- See Meth Bust on 11A
“We need some magic,”
says mom of child
selected for
Bert’s Big Adventure
to Disney
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
When Nichole Carver got
the call that her son was se
lected for a Bert’s Big Ad
venture trip to Disney World
she was at Eggleston Hospi
tal, the same place she spent
several months out of the
year in 2022.
“I got a text from Bert
Weiss asking if we could do
a video chat, and I went, ‘Oh
my God, oh my God,”’ said
Carver, who lives in Talking
Rock. “I was crying before
he even called me. We’re
here so much everybody at
Eggleston knows Hudson.
They were excited with us
that day. After the year
we’ve had, our family needs
this so much. We need a re
boot. ”
Bert’s Big Adventure is a
non-profit organization es
tablished by Bert Weiss, host
of the nationally-syndicated
morning show “The Bert
Show.” Every year since
2002, Bert’s Big Adventure
has taken children with ter
minal or chronic illness and
their families on a VIP, all-
expenses-paid five-day trip
Screen shot/Bert’s Big Adventure YouTube
Hudson’s mom Nichole Carver was surprised with a
video callfrom Bert’s Big Adventure founder Bert Weiss,
host of “The Bert Show. ” Hudson was selected from a
pool of a few hundred applicants, who must have a
chronic or terminal illness, show financial need, and be
between the ages of five and 12.
Photo/Provided by family
Hudson Carver loves the movie Toy Story and his
mom said when he gets to Disney World he will have the
time of his life. Hudson has a rare genetic disorder and
was told he wouldn’t survive past the age of two. Hud
son will be five this February when he and his family
take the trip of a lifetime to Walt Disney World with the
Bert’s Big Adventure.
to Disney World.
“He’s obsessed with Toy
Story and loves Buzz and
Woody,” Carver said. “He
doesn’t understand what’s
going on now, but he will
once we get there. He’s
going to have the best time.
I’m just hoping and pray
ing he or one of my other
two kids don’t get sick be
fore the trip.”
Carver went on to de
scribe a year that sounds
unimaginable. Impossible
even. The entire month of
December 2021 through
Christmas she was at
Eggleston with Hudson,
who was diagnosed with
Gaucher’s Disease at nine
months old and told he
wouldn’t live to see the age
of two. That month he had
to be put on “maximum life
support.”
“We didn’t have a
Christmas that year,” she
said. “Coming into the hol
idays this year I think I had
some PTSD.”
See Hudson on 11A
Jasper water system getting back to normal
Freeze outage information will be incorporated in new Master Plan
Oh Crap
Vandalism shuts
down second
city park
bathroom
City of Jasper/Photo
When partitions were
pulled down, the floor was
damaged in the men’s bath
room at Lee Newton Park.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
For the second time dur
ing the holidays, the city of
Jasper had to close a park
bathroom due to vandalism.
The first incident occurred at
the duck pond park on De
cember 18.
The latest incident is be
lieved to have occurred dur
ing the day December 30 at
Lee Newton Park. City
workers reported extensive
damage inside the men’s
restroom when they were
closing it at the end of the
day. The women’s bathroom
was undamaged and remains
open.
Unlike the first incident
which was described as a
“significant mess,” the latest
involved damage with the
partitions between the stalls
ripped down, also damaging
the floor.
“This one isn’t just a
cleanup,” said Assistant City
Manager Kim Goldener.
“We are going to get some
quotes [for repair work].”
Goldener said if the floors
See Vandals on 11A
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The city of Jasper’s water
system is mostly back to
normal after widespread
leaks related to the frozen
ground created outages and
low pressure throughout the
city’s service area.
“It’s back under control, I
believe - knock on wood,”
said Jasper Assistant City
Manager Kim Goldener
Tuesday morning.
Goldener said she didn’t
have numbers in terms of
how many homes had been
affected by the water issues
that hit right after Christmas,
but as far as she knew all all
service and pressure has
been restored. The leaks
were so severe they caused
the elevated water tanks to
drain, which spread low
pressure issues across a large
swath of the service area.
Other Georgia water sys
tem reported similar freeze
problems across the state, in
cluding middle Georgia
counties. Pickens County
was spared any serious out
ages, according to the com
mission chair.
For much of the Christ
mas holiday period the city
used all water department
employees, plus employees
from public works and addi
tional secretarial support to
answer phones and alert
crews of reported leaks.
They also turned to outside
contractors to address the
raptured lines.
If there is a good side,
Goldener said it appears the
extent of physical damage
was to lines. No pumps or
other infrastructure was
damaged.
She said there is no cost
estimate from the repair
work but that it would be
mostly for overtime and for
the outside contractors.
City crews are still track
ing down leaks on private
property which continue to
drain water from the system.
However, Goldener ex
plained their crews can’t go
onto private property (even a
line in a yard that is past a
meter), so there is a “catch
22.”
The city must find the
leaks from lines at homes but
can’t start wandering yards
to look for them, she said.
Goldener said they can not
fix any leaks on private prop
erty but they want to see that
homeowners make repairs to
prevent water loss.
She asks homeowners to
keep an eye out for water
puddling up in unusual
places or water flowing
where it shouldn’t or possi
bly water running from
spigots. At this point, she
said it’s likely the leaks are
either in unoccupied build
ings or out of sight on private
property. “People would be
calling if it was flooding
through their house,” she
said.
During the day, you can
call City Hall at 706-692-
9100 to report issues, as well
as the water plant at 706-
692-9102. After hours,
please call the water plant at
706-692-9102.
Goldener said it wasn’t
simply a case of frozen lines
bursting, as all the major
lines had water flowing
through them. She said some
of the smaller service lines
did freeze but the main lines
had been affected by the
frozen ground, leaks
throughout the system, and
possibly the tie-ins to the
smaller frozen lines.
She said part of the prob
lem might be attributed to
the age of Jasper’s system
but mostly it was a case of
the arctic cold. It was un
usual the way the leaks on
some lines, such as East
Church Street, started in one
point and then spread. “It
was a perfect storm,” she
said. “It hit and kept going.
See Water on 11A
Large development
changes hands
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A large mix-used proj
ect planned near Ingles on
West Church Street has
changed hands, with future
plans for the property un
clear at this time.
Last year the Progress
reported that Grant
Schmeelk, one of the lead
developers for the popular
“The Mill on Etowah” in
Canton, planned a large
mixed-use project on ap
proximately 22 acres be
tween Ingles and The
Retreat at Jasper. The proj
ect called for residential
units, multi-family apart
ments, townhomes, and
commercial, retail, and
professional space.
But Schmeelk recently
told the Progress they sold
the property to a new
builder.
According to the city of
Jasper, Spectra Holdings is
the new developer. At this
point they have not submit
ted plans to the city for ap
proval.
A PUD zoning for the
project was recommended
by Jasper Planning & Zon
ing then granted final ap
proval by Jasper City
Council in 2021, prior to
the city’s residential mora
torium being put in place.
Optimist
Club ready
to roll for
2023
Page 8B
Editorial
Prepare now
for power
outages with
more winter
still to come
Page 4A
Obituaries 9A & 10A
Marvin Abbott
Shannon Allender
Luce Beck
Daniel Blankowski
Buddy Bryan
Danny Crane
Gene Garland
Selina Hales
John Mclain
Nolan Mortus
Julia Nutting
Denny Panter
Paul Petty
Christine Rackley
EJ Rich
Betsy Russell
Alvin Trevillyan
Connie Wilkie
Rodney Wheeler
Contact Us
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706-253-2457
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